Humanitarian Situation Update #319 | Gaza Strip

The Humanitarian Situation Updates on the Gaza Strip and on the West Bank are both Issued every Wednesday/Thursday. The Gaza Humanitarian Response Update is issued every other Tuesday. The next Humanitarian Situation Update on the Gaza Strip will be published on 10 or 11 September.

Key Highlights

• Across the Gaza Strip, casualties due to strikes on tents, schools, residential buildings, health facilities and people seeking aid continue to be reported.
• Amid famine and growing displacement, humanitarian organizations highlight deplorable conditions at displacement sites.
• The International Committee of the Red Cross warns that a mass evacuation of Gaza city cannot be done in a safe and dignified manner under the current conditions.
• Since January, about 44,000 admissions of children for the treatment of acute malnutrition have been reported, according to the Nutrition Cluster.
• Ongoing hostilities are depriving over 700,000 children of their right to education, including more than 658,000 children who already lost two academic years.

Humanitarian Developments

• Over the past week, Israeli forces have continued to carry out heavy bombardment from the air, land and sea across the Gaza Strip. Fighting between Palestinian armed groups and Israeli forces has taken place. Military ground operations continue to be especially intensive in Gaza city as well as in Jabalya and surrounding neighbourhoods in North Gaza, driving additional waves of displacement. According to the Site Management Cluster (SMC), 83 per cent of displacement movements between 27 and 31 August were from parts of Gaza city, primarily to western Gaza city and also southwards to Deir al Balah and Khan Younis. Field reports also suggest that since coastal areas in Gaza city are already extremely crowded with tents, some people have been forced to flee Gaza city to the northwest, coastal areas near Zikim crossing that are under displacement orders. Overall, since the reescalation of hostilities on 18 March, more than 856,000 displacement movements have been recorded across the Gaza Strip, SMC reported; these figures may count the same person more than once if they have been displaced multiple times.
• According to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, between 27 August and 3 September, 571 Palestinians were killed, and 2,318 were injured. This brings the casualty toll among Palestinians since 7 October 2023, as reported by MoH, to 63,746 fatalities and 161,245 injuries. According to MoH, the total number includes 280 fatalities who were retroactively added on 30 August 2025 after their identification details were approved by a ministerial committee. MoH further noted that the number of casualties among people trying to access aid supplies has increased to 2,339 fatalities and more than 17,070 injuries since 27 May 2025.
• According to the Israeli military, between 27 August and 3 September, as of noon, one Israeli soldier was killed in Gaza. This brings the casualty toll among Israeli soldiers since the beginning of the Israeli ground operation in October 2023 to 456 fatalities and 2,888 injuries, according to the Israeli military. According to Israeli forces and official Israeli sources cited in the media, more than 1,656 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed, the majority on 7 October 2023 and its immediate aftermath. On 29 August, the Israeli military announced that it had recovered the body of one hostage who was killed on 7 October 2023 and that the remains of another hostage were being identified. On 30 August, the Israeli military confirmed the recovery of the second identified hostage. As of 3 September, it is estimated that 48 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including hostages who have been declared dead and whose bodies are being withheld.
• As of September 2025, according to data provided by the Israel Prison Service (IPS) to Hamoked, an Israeli human rights NGO, there are 11,040 Palestinians in Israeli custody, including 1,540 sentenced prisoners, 3,351 remand detainees, 3,577 administrative detainees held without trial, and 2,662 people held as “unlawful combatants.” These figures do not include Palestinians from Gaza who have been detained by the Israeli military since 7 October 2023.
• Delays and impediments of humanitarian movements continue. Recently, fewer humanitarian movements have been denied outright by Israeli authorities. However, missions that are approved still take hours to complete and teams have been compelled to wait on roads that are often dangerous, congested or impassable. Between 27 August and 2 September, out of 86 attempts to coordinate planned movements with Israeli authorities across the Gaza Strip, 50 were facilitated (58 per cent), 22 were initially approved but then impeded on the ground (26 per cent), five (six per cent) were denied and nine (10 per cent) had to be withdrawn by the organizers for logistical, operational, or security reasons. Facilitated movements included missions to transfer fuel, collection of medical, nutrition and WASH supplies, staff movements and rotations. Denied movements included missions aiming to retrieve nutrition supplies, to inspect a dumpsite to expand solid waste operations, as well as missions to repair roads to ensure safe passage of trucks along routes. Among the 22 impeded missions, five were fully accomplished despite the impediments, including missions to collect supplies from Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings and medically evacuate patients through Kerem Shalom crossing. The remaining 17 missions were partially accomplished, including missions to pick up food, fuel, and other supplies from Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings. Overall, eight out of the 86 movements involved fuel collection and transfer, 24 involved the collection of other supplies from Gaza’s crossings, 19 were staff movements and rotations, and 35 aimed to support other ongoing humanitarian operations.
• On 29 August, the United Arab Emirates inaugurated a 6.7-kilometre pipeline to deliver desalinated water from the UAE-funded desalination plant in Egypt, which was established in early 2024, to Khan Younis in southern Gaza. The installation of the new trunkline was completed by the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU) and Khan Younis Municipality and has the capacity of providing up to 10,000 cubic metres of clean water to over one million people daily. The system is under a trial operation and is not yet delivering at full capacity. According to the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Cluster, the plan is to distribute water to displaced households in Al Mawasi through 50 water tanks of five cubic metres each across sites hosting internally displaced people (IDPs), to install three water trucking filling stations, and to connect the trunkline with the water network in Khan Younis. However, the pipeline sustained damage on 31 August and was repaired within a day, underscoring its vulnerability in the future.

Strikes on Tents, Schools, Buildings, Health Facilities and People Seeking Aid

• Incidents of detonation and demolition of residential buildings, including through the use of explosive robots, continue to be reported, alongside strikes on schools, tents, residential buildings, and on people trying to access food supplies. According to records of the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR), since the establishment of a militarized distribution system in the Gaza Strip on 27 May and as of 2 September, at least 2,146 people seeking aid – mostly young men and boys – were killed in Gaza – 1,135 near militarized distribution sites and 1,011 along convoy supply routes.
• Between 31 August and 2 September, two Palestinian journalists were killed in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS). On 31 August, a journalist was killed with her husband and children in an Israeli airstrike that hit their apartment in Gaza city. On 2 September, a photojournalist was killed in an Israeli strike near Al Jala’ square in Gaza city. In total, since the escalation of hostilities in October 2023, 247 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza, PJS reported.
• On 1 September, a tent on the roof of the outpatient clinic building at Al Aqsa Hospital, in Deir al Balah, was hit, injuring at least two people, one of whom reportedly succumbed to his wounds on 2 September, and causing structural damage. According to the hospital, this marked the 14th time the hospital has been hit and it caused significant damage to the Ear, Nose, and Throat Department and its equipment, rendering the department out of service. This department was serving more than 70 patients daily for essential examinations and treatments, in addition to providing care for injured people, the hospital added, noting that efforts are ongoing to reactivate the department despite the critical shortage of resources.
• Casualties among IDPs sheltering in tents or schools continue to be reported, including the following incidents:
  • On 28 August, at about 11:45, a woman and her son were reportedly killed when IDP tents were hit in Asdaa area, northwest of Khan Younis.
  • On 28 August, at about 16:00, five people were reportedly killed and others injured when the gate of a school used as a shelter for IDPs was hit in Jabalya An Nazla, in North Gaza.
  • On 28 August, at about 18:50, four people, including two children, were reportedly killed when an IDP tent was hit at the entrance to Al Bureij Camp, in Deir al Balah.
  • On 29 August, at about 1:00, a young couple and a man were reportedly killed when an IDP tent was hit south of Al Mawasi area, in western Khan Younis.
  • On 1 September, at about midday, two people were reportedly killed and others injured while setting up IDP tents around Ash Shuja’iyyeh junction, in northeastern Gaza city.
• Other incidents resulting in fatalities over the past week included the following, the majority in relation to people seeking aid near militarized distribution sites or along routes of humanitarian aid convoys, and some while tending to their livelihoods:
  • On 28 August, between 0:45 and the early morning, at least seven people were reportedly killed and others injured near a militarized distribution site in Wadi Gaza area, north of Deir al Balah.
  • On 29 August, at about 8:14, three men were reportedly killed, and one was injured, when farmers were hit on Abu Hosni Street, in Deir al Balah.
  • On 29 August, at about 18:45, a Palestinian fisher was reportedly killed when a fishing boat was hit off the coast of Al Qarara, northwest of Khan Younis.
  • On 29 August, nine people seeking aid were reportedly killed and others injured in the Zikim crossing area, in North Gaza.
  • On 29 August, at about 23:30, eight Palestinians, including at least one woman and two girls, were reportedly killed when a residential building was hit south of An Nuseirat Camp, in Deir al Balah.
  • On 30 August, at about noon, at least 12 Palestinians, including five children, were reportedly killed and others injured when a bakery surrounded by IDP tents was hit on An Naser Street, northwest of Gaza city.
  • On 30 August, at about 20:00, five people, including a woman, were reportedly killed when a café was hit in Ash Shati’ (Beach) Camp, northwest of Gaza city.
  • On 31 August, in the early morning, seven people were reportedly killed and 10 others were injured near a militarized distribution site in Wadi Gaza, north of Deir al Balah.
  • On 31 August, between 12:15 and 16:30, 14 people were reportedly killed while waiting for aid near the Morag axis, south of Khan Younis.
  • On 31 August, at about 13:45, seven people, including four females, were reportedly killed when a residential building was hit in Jabalya, in North Gaza.
  • On 31 August, at about 17:15, seven people were reportedly killed while seeking aid in As Sudaniya area, west of Beit Lahiya, in North Gaza.
  • On 31 August, at about 18:45, eight people were reportedly killed when a residential apartment near As Sahaba Medical Complex was hit, in Gaza city.
  • On 1 September, at about 13:00, at least three people including one boy were reportedly killed and others injured when a donkey cart was hit in a crowded market on An Naser Street, in Gaza city.
  • On 2 September, in the morning, ten people were reportedly killed and at least 10 others injured near a militarized distribution site in Wadi Gaza, north of Deir al Balah.
  • On 2 September, at about 2:20, at least seven people were reportedly killed including a married couple and their three children, when two residential buildings were hit near Ash Sheikh Radwan Bridge, in Gaza city.
  • On 2 September, at about noon, at least ten people were reportedly killed near a militarized distribution site southwest of Khan Younis.
  • On 2 September, at about 13:30, at least nine Palestinians, including six children (three girls, including two sisters, and three boys) and three men, were reportedly killed and several others injured in multiple airstrikes on a group of people collecting water in the Al Attar area, in Al Mawasi, west of Khan Younis.

Escalating Israeli Military Activity and Forced Displacement from Gaza City

• On 29 August, the Israeli military announced that the 10-hour tactical pauses in military activity, declared to facilitate the distribution of humanitarian aid, would no longer apply to Gaza city, describing the area as a “dangerous combat zone.” On 2 September, the Israeli military additionally announced that, in preparation for the expansion of military activity in Gaza city, Al Mawasi area, in Khan Younis, “will witness the provision of better humanitarian services, particularly those related to health care, water, and food,” warning people not to approach or return to previously declared combat zones or areas where Israeli forces are operating.
• On 30 August, the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Mirjana Spoljaric, warned that a mass evacuation of Gaza city cannot be done in a safe and dignified manner under the current conditions. Describing such an event as unfeasible and incomprehensible, she stated: “Such an evacuation would trigger a massive population movement that no area in the Gaza Strip can absorb, given the widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure and the extreme shortages of food, water, shelter and medical care. The order would be imposed on civilians who are already traumatised by months of fighting and terrified by what could come next. Many are unable to comply with evacuation orders because they are starving, sick, injured or suffering from physical disabilities. All civilians are protected by international humanitarian law (IHL), whether they leave or stay behind, and must be allowed to return home.”
• For several months, the WASH Cluster has reported that due to ongoing displacement, limited fuel supplies needed to operate water and sanitation facilities, massive destruction or inaccessibility to water and sanitation infrastructure, and the inability to carry out needed repairs, most people in Gaza have been receiving less than the emergency standard of 15 litres per person per day. A further deterioration in the situation in the northern Gaza Strip, especially in Gaza city, could endanger the operation of the few remaining water and sanitation facilities serving nearly one million people. Ongoing displacement has further compounded the crisis, placing additional pressure on already overstretched water services. Many displacement sites are reporting severe gaps in water supply, underscoring the urgent need for increased response capacity.
• On 2 September, the Gaza Municipality warned that intensified military operations and associated security threats have prevented municipal crews from accessing and operating critical infrastructure in Al Manara area and around Ash Sheikh Radwan rainwater basin in the northwestern part of Gaza city. The Municipality said that its inability to access and operate two wastewater pumping stations east of the Az Zaytoun neighbourhood, in southern Gaza city, may lead to sewage overflow and flooding of homes. According to the WASH Cluster, access to Sheikh Radwan pond is critical as it is Gaza city’s largest rainwater collection pond and is now contaminated with untreated sewage. Limited fuel supplies have hampered efforts to pump water into the sea, causing the pond to reach critical levels several times and increasing the risk of overflow. Without sustained access to the site and reliable operation of the pumping stations that empty it, even limited rainfall could trigger overflow, potentially flooding surrounding neighbourhoods and significantly increasing the risk of waterborne disease outbreaks and groundwater contamination, the WASH Cluster warns.
• In a statement on 3 September, the Site Management Cluster expressed grave concern at the intensifying humanitarian catastrophe unfolding across the Gaza Strip, and reported 82,000 new displacement movements since 14 August, including 29,700 movements observed from northern to southern Gaza between 14 and 31 August. The cluster noted deplorable conditions at displacement sites, including severe overcrowding, unsanitary conditions and lack of water, and highlighted concerns that land in Deir al Balah and Khan Younis is already sheltering thousands of displaced families and cannot adequately accommodate displaced people from Gaza city.
• While Israeli authorities had announced that they would lift the ban on the entry of shelter supplies into Gaza as of 17 August, the number of tents approved for entry by the Israeli authorities through UN coordination has so far been limited. According to the Shelter Cluster, as of 30 August, more than 86,000 tents, over one million tarpaulins and sealing-off kits, and some five million non-food items are currently in the Shelter Cluster pipeline awaiting clearance and entry into Gaza. Humanitarian organizations are reiterating their call for shelter materials and other supplies to be allowed into all parts of Gaza, including through the northern crossings and to Gaza city, emphasizing their commitment to serve people wherever they are.
• In a positive development, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) announced the opening of the Cardiac Catheterization Department at Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza city on 30 August 2025, as part of its plan to expand medical services in the hospital. Dr. Haider Al-Qidra, PRCS’s Executive Director, emphasized that engineering and technical teams managed to rehabilitate the cardiac catheterization device which has enabled the medical teams to perform numerous vital medical interventions and decrease the pressure caused by long patient waiting lists.

Right to Learning under Grave Threat

• The official beginning of the school year in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) this week also marks the start of the third, consecutive academic year in which children in Gaza will be deprived of their right to education, with lasting consequences for an entire generation, the Education Cluster warns. Over 700,000 students should be starting the new school year this week, including about 56,000 six-year-olds who should enter school for the first time and more than 658,000 who have already lost two consecutive academic years. Of the total, some 71,000 students in Gaza cannot transition to higher education because they have been unable to sit for the General Secondary Education Examinations (Tawjihi) in the past two years. Only 1,730 students from the 2022-2023 cohort were able to take the Tawjihi exams organized by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MoE) in July 2025, of whom roughly 94 per cent passed, and there are plans underway to hold additional exams for the 2023-2024 cohort in the coming two weeks. According to the Education Cluster, only about 38 per cent of school-aged children (250,000 out of 658,000) have been able to access some form of learning organized or supported by cluster partners in the past two years through temporary learning spaces (TLS), which have offered a combination of psychosocial support, social-emotional learning, recreational activities, and some continuity of education. In other words, over 60 per cent of school-aged children have had no access to any form of learning or support in nearly two years.
• According to the Education Cluster, partners continue to face immense challenges in expanding learning outreach to children across the Gaza Strip amid continued hostilities, bombardment, destruction, displacement, access impediments and funding constraints. Over 86 per cent of Gaza are within Israeli-militarized zones or fall within areas placed under displacement orders, with 166 TLS forced to pause their activities due to insecurity and displacement orders since the start of 2025. During the same period, 239 additional TLS have been either destroyed or closed due to funding constraints. Limited internet access hinders online learning, including classes organized by UNRWA and MoE. Basic supplies, such as tents, notebooks, pens, backpacks and paper, have largely not yet been approved for entry into Gaza by Israeli authorities, with only limited quantities of tents and stationary allowed entry during the ceasefire in early 2025. These restrictions likewise apply to about 10,000 tablets needed to administer the Tawjihi exams that are available to be sent to Gaza from the West Bank. Attacks on education and educational infrastructure also continue, including airstrikes and shelling by the Israeli military on schools providing shelter to internally displaced people, with a total of 394 incidents recorded by the Education Cluster since October 2023, of which 117 incidents were documented between January and August 2025. These attacks not only kill and injure civilians, but also fuel fear among parents, children and teachers, undermining participation in emergency education activities. With winter approaching, the Education Cluster reports that all 295 TLS that remain operational lack insulation and heating – as of 2 September, these include six TLS in North Gaza, 89 in Gaza governorate, 100 in Deir al Balah, and 100 in Khan Younis – and children lack adequate winter clothing, which would make safe and dignified learning nearly impossible.

Famine, Food Insecurity and the Malnutrition Crisis

• The Food Security Sector (FSS) reports that increases in the entry of commercial and humanitarian supplies into the Gaza Strip in August have led to a decrease in the prices of some key food staples, such as wheat flour, and allowed humanitarian partners to produce a larger number of daily meals at community kitchens across Gaza. According to monitoring data by the UN 2720 mechanism, over 33,000 metric tons (MT) of humanitarian food supplies were collected from the crossings in August, which is roughly the same amount that was collected from the crossings between the resumption of limited aid entry on 19 May and 30 July 2025. In other words, the daily average of food supplies collected by the UN and humanitarian partners has generally more than doubled from about 445 MT in July to 1,100 MT in August. Yet, the majority of these supplies have been taken by crowds of hungry people en route or, in some cases, looted by armed criminal groups. According to FSS, the daily average volume of collected supplies through UN coordination remains far less than the 2,000 MT required daily across the Strip to meet basic food needs. As of 2 September, 20 FSS partners prepared 517,000 individual meals every day at 104 community kitchens across Gaza, including about 175,000 meals in the north and 342,000 meals in southern and central Gaza – this is compared with 453,000 daily meals at 99 community kitchens a week earlier. Yet, limited purchasing power, supply shortages, extremely expensive prices of some high demand items such as potatoes and dry onions, and persistently high liquidity fees (at 35-37 per cent) continue to limit the ability of most families to obtain needed supplies of nutritious food.
• On 26 August, after a five-month pause, the World Food Programme (WFP) resumed the cash assistance programme, so far reaching about 22,500 people (4,500 households) across Gaza out of a total target of 66,000 people. According to WFP, the decision followed improved market supply and aims to expand support for vulnerable groups with limited access to in-kind food and are most at risk of severe malnutrition, including families with malnourished children, pregnant and breastfeeding women, persons with disability, the elderly and female-headed households. WFP emphasized, however, that the “previous ceasefire has proven that famine-like conditions can be reversed if access and safety are guaranteed to reach people in need,” and that “[o]nly a ceasefire will ensure the necessary conditions to allow a massive, large-scale response to prevent famine from spreading further.”
• Since the entry of animal feed into Gaza resumed on 25 August, for the first time in more than five months, the UN and its partners have brought into Gaza about 60 MT of concentrated fodder and distributed it to about 600 livestock owners in Deir al Balah governorate, each receiving two 50-kilogramme sacks, FSS reports. The distribution of animal feed is a critical form of support to livestock-keeping households; it helps sustain surviving animals, contributes to water and solid waste transportation, and supports the local production of fresh, nutritious food – such as meat and dairy products – that are essential for a healthy diet, and currently scarce in Gaza. During the ceasefire, more than 3,000 livestock holders in Deir al Balah, Khan Younis, and Gaza city received over 1,000 MT of animal feed. Such support remains vital amid widespread damage of cropland, agricultural wells, fishing assets, greenhouses and other assets required for food production as well as continued restrictions on the entry of most emergency agricultural and livelihood inputs, such as seed kits and organic fertilizers; according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Famine Review Committee, the destruction of domestic food production systems has been one of the key compounding factors for the catastrophic shortage of food availability inside the Gaza Strip, which prior to October 2023 was largely self-sufficient in nutritious food.
• The lack of dietary diversity in Gaza compromises nutritional intake, increasing the risk of acute malnutrition and related health complications, particularly among children. According to the Nutrition Cluster, all children under five years in Gaza, or about 320,000 children (of whom 290,000 are between six months and five years of age) are at risk of becoming acutely malnourished. With most food items essential for dietary diversity either non-existent or prohibitively expensive, malnutrition cases among children continue to be identified. Nutrition Cluster partners continue to screen children for the early detection and treatment of acute malnutrition cases. Since January 2025 and while data for August is not yet complete, there have been about 44,000 admissions of children across Gaza for acute malnutrition treatment, including more than 8,000 cases suffering from severe acute malnutrition. In one of the cases described by UNICEF’s spokesperson, Tess Ingram, a mother who already had a daughter die of malnutrition has a second daughter who recently relapsed into severe acute malnutrition after being diagnosed with severe malnutrition 15 months earlier and receiving eight months of treatment. The girl is currently hospitalized and urgently requires medical evacuation outside of Gaza to survive. In response to the rising number of malnourished children, Nutrition Cluster partners have distributed between 17 and 30 August over 2,270 cartons of ready-to-use therapeutic food sufficient to treat more than 3,000 children suffering from moderate or severe acute malnutrition for approximately six weeks. Additionally, partners are working to expand the number of stabilization centres in the Gaza Strip from five to eight, which would increase bed capacity and enhance the provision of adequate and timely treatment to a high number of severely malnourished people.
• According to MoH in Gaza, as of 3 September, 367 malnutrition-related deaths, including 131 children, were documented since October 2023. Updated data breakdowns published by MoH on 27 August indicate that of the total, four malnutrition-related deaths were documented in 2023, 49 deaths in 2024, and 260 in between January and 27 August 2025.

Funding

• As of 3 September 2025, Member States have disbursed approximately US$968 million out of the $4 billion (24 per cent) requested to meet the most critical humanitarian needs of three million out of 3.3 million people identified as requiring assistance in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 2025, under the 2025 Flash Appeal for the OPT. Nearly 88 per cent of the requested funds are for humanitarian response in Gaza, with just over 12 per cent for the West Bank. Moreover, during August 2025, the oPt Humanitarian Fund managed 104 ongoing projects, totalling $62.3 million, to address urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (87 per cent) and the West Bank (13 per cent). Of these projects, 48 are being implemented by INGOs, 42 by national NGOs and 14 by UN agencies. Notably, 35 out of the 62 projects implemented by INGOs or the UN are being implemented in collaboration with national NGOs. For more information, please see OCHA’s Financial Tracking Service webpage and the oPt HF webpage.

* Asterisks indicate that a figure, sentence, or section has been rectified, added, or retracted after the initial publication of this update.